


More than meets the eye

by britishatheart



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, College student/musician Beth, F/M, Fluff, Minor appearances of other Characters - Freeform, Possibly Out of Character, Tattoo Artist Daryl, Tattoo shops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2015-05-06
Packaged: 2018-03-29 09:16:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3890866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/britishatheart/pseuds/britishatheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Never in her life had Beth Greene really thought about getting a tattoo. She had grown up in a farm in a little town in the middle of Georgia, and it was only when she was fourteen that she had plucked up the courage to get her ears pierced — and she had only done so because her older sister, Maggie, had bought her this beautiful pair of earrings; one piece was a treble clef and the other was a bass clef and Beth thought it was a real shame that Maggie had spent all that money on something so beautiful for it to just sit in a drawer... So that's when she got her ears pierced. But tattoos? She had never really thought about that.<br/>However, the idea of getting one had, somehow, worked its way into her mind...</p>
            </blockquote>





	More than meets the eye

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hiddlesandreedus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiddlesandreedus/gifts).
  * Translation into Italiano available: [Più di quel che sembra](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9367025) by [vannagio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vannagio/pseuds/vannagio)



> This has not been Beta Read or proof read to be honest, so all errors you'll most definitely find are my fault. My apologies, but I just wanted to get this posted because Sarah made [this](http://hiddlesandreedus.tumblr.com/post/118180455451/bethyl-tattoo-shop-au-requested-by) Bethyl manip and, since I gave her the idea, I thought I should write something to accompany.

_“Wear your heart on your skin in this life.”_

Sylvia Plath

+++

Her blue eyes were fixed on the shop across the street.

It was kind of a ritual of her own. Every day, for the last three months or so, Beth would find herself deviating from her original route from home to work and from work to home only to walk that particular street. And every day, she would glance at the shop on the other side of the street.

At first sight, there was nothing particularly flashy about that shop. There were four big glass windows and a door. But the door, much like the walls that framed the windows, was painted black and on two of the four glass panels, the name of the shop was plastered in a very raw but surprisingly neat handwriting — it read Dixon's Tattoo.

Never in her life had Beth Greene really thought about getting a tattoo. She had grown up in a farm in a little town in the middle of Georgia, and it was only when she was fourteen that she had plucked up the courage to get her ears pierced — and she had only done so because her older sister, Maggie, had bought her this beautiful pair of earrings; one piece was a treble clef and the other was a bass clefand Beth thought it was a real shame that Maggie had spent all that money on something so beautiful for it to just sit in a drawer... So that's when she got her ears pierced. But tattoos? She had never really thought about that.

However, the idea of getting one had, somehow, worked its way into her mind.

She wasn't living in Georgia anymore; she had left the farm about two years ago when she was accepted in the UCLA, to study music.

Beth loved every second of every day and she was particularly happy that she had a chance to do something she had loved all her life for a living. She loved all of that so much she wanted to keep it in her, but not just a memory. She wanted a memento, and that's why she was standing there, looking at the tattoo shop across the street.

Getting a tattoo was a pretty big commitment, and while Beth was quite convinced that she wanted that, there were a couple of things that bothered her a little and didn't let her step into the shop. First of all, there was her father. She was a woman and, technically, responsible for her life and choices, but her father had always been a very important part of her life and she couldn't help but wonder what he would say if she did it. Second of all, there were needles. Now Beth wasn't terrified of needles, but the idea of a needle piercing her skin a thousand times, well... that did not seem very nice. Or pleasant.

So, like all the other days, Beth let out a soft sigh and continued her way.

.

It was Monday when she finally crossed the street.

After talking to her sister on the phone the night before, Beth made up her mind. She was getting it. She was getting her tattoo.

.

Beth wasn't sure what she was expecting to see when she entered the place, but that... that wasn't really it.

The place was very bright. The big windows allowed all the light into the room and the two rows of lights on the ceiling added to the brightness of the place. The walls were a combination of beige and a dark shade of brown — the wall opposite the front door was dark and the ones on the right and left were beige — and the laminate flooring resembled hardwood. The place had an open layout with four work stations and an island in the middle, where a young blonde woman greeted her with a bright smile.

'Hi,' she said looking up at Beth. 'Can I help you with anything?'

The blonde girl didn't seem much older than herself — a couple of years at most; she seemed to be around Maggie's age —, although to say she was blonde was kind of not completely true. Her straight long hair had pink highlights to it.

Normally, she would try not to judge people based on first impressions or looks, but as she stood there, Beth couldn't help to think that that girl seemed incredibly ordinary to be working in a tattoo shop. She didn't know why, but that kind of took her by surprise.

Beth hesitated. 'Uh...'

The blonde smiled yet again and dropped the pencil she'd been holding. She seemed to be working on a drawing until Beth came into the shop.

'You seem lost,' she said gently. 'Are you looking for a particular address?'

Lost? No. She was certainly not lost and she was definitely not looking for a particular address.

'No,' Beth said shaking her head. 'This is exactly the place I was looking for... I'd like to get a tattoo.'

That seemed to surprise the blonde because she raised both eyebrows as she looked at her. 'Oh... Really?'

'Yeah,' Beth nodded.

The girl on the other side of the counter still regarded her for a couple of seconds, but then she smiled at her, a bigger and brighter smile.

'Okay. If you could wait a little... Dixon should be here in a moment, or if you prefer to come back later...'

It was Monday but she had the day off from work, and school wouldn't start for another two weeks so she didn't really have anything that required her attention.

'I can wait,' she said and smiled in return.

'As you wish. Do you have anything in mind...?'

'Beth,' she said and reached out a hand. 'My name's Beth.'

'Amy,' the blonde girl said as she shook her hand.

'Nice to meet you,' she said honestly. Amy seemed really nice. She liked her. 'And I have an idea, yes... I thought about getting—'

But before she could tell Amy what she was thinking of getting tattooed, she heard the front door opening, and before she could really think what she was doing, Beth looked over her shoulder.

The first think she noticed was his eyes. Even though his hair was long enough to cover his eyes, she could still catch a glimpse of his blue eyes. Beautiful blue eyes. Guarded blue eyes.

For what felt like an eternity, but shouldn't be more than a couple of seconds, Beth just stood there, too stunned to do anything else than to look at him. At his eyes.

It was only when he closed the door and Amy spoke that she snapped out of her reverie and averted her eyes. All of a sudden, her Converses seemed like it was the most interesting thing in the entire universe and she fixed her eyes on them.

'Daryl, hey,' she heard Amy say. Blinking a couple of times, Beth raised her eyes so she could look at Amy. Thankfully, the blonde was looking at the man who had just walked it — _Daryl_ — so she didn't see her flustered face. Beth could tell her cheeks had acquired a not so subtle shade of red.

'This is Beth,' she continued when he didn't say anything in response. 'She's here for a tattoo!'

Amy looked at her with a wide smile on her lips and Beth tried to smile at her, but her smile didn't really match Amy's. She was there to get a tattoo, all right, but in that moment, Beth felt as if Amy was more excited about that than herself, which was pretty crazy considering she had been very determined and pretty enthusiastic about getting a tattoo.

But that was then and now she could feel his piercing blue eyes fixed on her and Beth tried to continue to look cool, as if his stare wasn't bothering her when it really was.

'Really?' He said and she felt her breath hitching.

He sounded pretty much like he looked and completely different at the same time. His voice was low and kind of raspy, which, in Beth's opinion, suited him pretty perfectly because he had this look that matched the rawness on his tone; but at the same time, his voice wasn't grave and loud, it was surprisingly... well, soft wasn't the word she would use, but...

'Yeah,' Amy spoke again and Beth blinked a couple more times. She needed to stop doing that. Allowing her mind to wander. 'We were just talking about what she was thinking of getting...'

'And what was that?' He asked. 'A butterfly?'

It wasn't hard to notice the sarcasm in his voice and the mocking tone which he used when he said that. It was also not hard at all to notice that he was clearly suggesting that she was one of those girls.

To be fair, Beth had no idea what exactly what kind of girl he was referring to, but she knew when people were trying to be derisive and rude.

Suddenly, feeling more confident than she had been in so long, Beth Greene turned to face the man who was lazily leaning against the counter and eyeing her like she was a fool or something.

'Actually, no,' she said sternly. 'That's not what I had in mind.'

'Then what is it?' He asked casually.

If he was impressed with her attitude, Beth didn't notice, but she was pretty impressed herself, even more when she opened her mouth and said, 'I wanted Ares, the Greek god of War, standing on top of a mountain high pile of skulls and smokes of war on the background.'

That was definitely, definitely _not_ what Beth wanted, but she was way too mad at his assumptions that she was a butterfly type of girl that she just couldn't help herself. She had nothing against butterflies, but the guy had been so judgmental that she just wanted to make him look like an ass. Which he totally did, for she said that with such conviction and she never hesitated that all he did after she explained the tattoo that she certainly did not want was to stand there and stare at her.

'But since you're just willing to do butterflies, I'll find another artist that isn't half as arrogant as you are. Thanks for your kindness,' Beth said turning to Amy. She smiled at the blonde, but Amy was also shell-shocked and, for the first time, she didn't smile at Beth.

'And you,' she added, looking at Daryl. She didn't even waver when she looked into those blue eyes of his. 'I really hope you have a nice day.'

And with that, Beth turned around and headed straight to the door. Without a second thought, she walked out of the tattoo shop.

.

She was pretty upset that she didn't get her tattoo — the one she really wanted, not that thing about Ares and the pile of skulls... As she walked down the pavement, Beth imagined her dad's reaction if she showed up at home with the god of war tattooed on her skin. He would have a heart attack. Or skin her alive. Probably both.

Beth laughed a little when she thought about that. It was actually an amusing thought considering it wasn't going to happen, like, ever. But her laughter died when she realised that her getting her tattoo wasn't going to happen today either.

It was all that man's fault. Daryl. Why did he have to be so obnoxious? That arrogant jerk... What was the matter with him? Did he think it was okay to treat people like that? What the heck was the matter wi—

Beth was in the middle of her inner rant when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear anyone approaching her. She also didn't notice anyone approaching her so her natural reaction to that was to scream. She screamed so loud and jumped away from the person's touch. She was just about to start running when she caught a glimpse of the individual that had touched her... and when she did, her face turned into stone before changing into an angry glare.

'What the hell is the matter with you?!' She yelled at him. One of her hands was holding tightly onto her purse while the other was placed upon her heart. It was racing; pounding against her chest and she wanted so bad to punch him in the face. Not only because he just scared her half to death, but also because he was the idiot from the tattoo shop.

'I'm sorry,' he said shyly while taking a small step back. 'I tried calling you, but you weren't answering.'

She wasn't answering because she wasn't listening, but hell if she was going to admit to that.

'Well, maybe I didn't want to answer,' she hissed at him. She was taking slow deep breaths to calm herself down. 'That didn't occur to you?'

'It did actually,' he admitted sheepishly while running a hand through his long hair. 'But I...'

Part of Beth wanted to just huff, turn around and walk away, maybe tell him to go to hell or something; but the other part of her was way too curious to know how that sentence of his was going to finish.

'Well...?' She pushed. Her anger still very evident in her tone and she almost didn't recognise her own voice; she was hardly ever that blunt and nervous, but she didn't even feel bad about being like that now. He totally deserved it.

Averting his eyes for a moment, Daryl let out a sigh. 'I just... wanted to apologise.'

Well, that was something Beth did not see coming. Not only Daryl didn't really seem like the kind of guy who would apologise, but he also did t really seem like the kind of guy who would act like that... It wasn't like she was an expert in behaviour or an expert in Daryl, but he just didn't look like that type of guy. And now that she thought about that, Beth couldn't help but chide and be ashamed of herself for she was doing exactly what he had done to her moment ago — judging by looks.

Letting out a sigh, Beth waved a hand. 'It's okay,' she said, much softer this time. 'Just forget about it... and I didn't because I didn't hear you calling, so...'

Beth shrugged. She didn't know how to continue with what she was saying; she didn't even know what else she wanted to say so she just let her voice trail off.

Now that her anger had subsided, she was back to having trouble looking right at him. There was just something about him... something that felt pretty dangerous. Not like he was dangerous — although he could be — but more like he wasn't exactly the kind of guy that was good or nice. He had that bad boy thing going on... He seemed to be the kind of man parents wouldn't want their daughters around.

As they stood there, part of Beth was expecting him to say something, but she wasn't exactly surprised when he didn't. Shaking her head, she turned her back to him. She was just resuming her walk to nowhere in particular, when she felt his hand on her arm again.

'Wait,' he said and she stopped.

'What?' She asked and she sounded tired now.

'You still want that tattoo?'

'Well, yeah.'

'Then c'mon...'

Yet again, Beth was divided. Part of her didn't want to go back, but the other part wanted to, after all, Dixon's Tattoos seemed to be the best tattoo shop around.

'Look, I'm sorry for being an ass,' Daryl said when she didn't say anything or moved. 'Let me try to make up for that.'

He seemed pretty honest, so after a brief moment of consideration, Beth acquiesced. 'All right.'

.

'So, you said you wanted Ares...?' Daryl asked after telling her to take a seat.

'About that...' Beth shifted in her seat and just watched as he walked around getting paper and pencils and clearing a space on the table that was filled with things she had no idea what they were for. 'I don't really want that tattoo...'

She felt herself blush a little as she admitted to her lie, especially when she noticed him turning around to face her.

Daryl silently stared at her for a few seconds before asking, 'What do you want then?'

'Two swallows,' she said.

There was a brief moment of silence in which Beth bit on her lower lip and Daryl simply looked at her in a way she couldn't really decipher.

'Two swallows... and how do you want them?' He pulled a chair and sat next to her. He had his pencil ready to start sketching but he needed more details. Two swallows was a very vague idea for something so definite like a tattoo.

'I thought about them flying, maybe in opposite directions...'

'Do you want it in colour or monochromatic?' He asked, but he wasn't looking at her anymore, his eyes were fixed on the piece of paper he was drawing on.

'In colour.'

'Mm-kay,' he murmured under his breath. 'Anything else? A quite or something?'

'Uh... no, I don't think so.'

The pencil stopped and he raised his eyes to meet hers. 'If you ain't sure then it's best not do it.'

'No! I'm sure. I want the swallows.'

'I meant the quote.'

'Oh, right...'

Daryl nodded once again and returned to his sketching. 'Give me a few minutes... if you want to get some water, go to the bathroom, whatever, you best do now.'

'I'm all right,' she said and waited.

.

'Have a look in the mirror and tell me what you think,' Daryl said as he finished applying the stencil.

He did as she had requested. Two swallows, flying opposite directions. She had chosen to do it on her left shoulder so that's where he applied the stencil. It was just the lines and some other marks where he would add the colours and some effects but it was enough for her to have a good idea.

'If you want it bigger or smaller,' he said as he watched her inspecting his drawing. 'Some place else, I can change it.'

'No, it's great.' She turned around to face him. 'I like it here.'

'All right. Sit there, then. Chest against the back of the chair.'

Beth did as he told her.

The moment she heard the buzzing sound of the machine, Beth held her breath and wrapped her arms around the back of the chair.

'Try to relax,' she heard him say. 'It's better when you're not tensed up.'

Beth simply nodded; she wasn't sure she could do anything else. And then she felt his touch against her skin and she tried to pay attention to that rather than the buzzing machine. But when the needle came in contact with her body, she closed her eyes and held her breath.

'What's with the swallows?' He asked and then Beth opened her eyes.

'What?'

'Your tattoo. Why two swallows?'

She knew what he was doing. He was trying to get her talking so she wouldn't be too focused on the pain.

To be honest, the pain was bearable. It didn't hurt half as much as she thought it would, but then again, it could be because they had just started...

'Do you like sailing?' He asked, and Beth silently thanked him.

'I wouldn't know how to answer that because I never sailed before...'

'So, what then?'

Then Beth explained him why the two swallows. She told him that the swallows symbolised more than just a sailor's experience in the sea. She explained that the swallow was a symbol of the love goddess, Venus; that it was a totem bird for mothers in sorrow for it embodied all the children that died at birth. She told him that the swallow represented hope and fertility.

'Some people see the swallow as a symbol of sacrifice and rebirth, and that's kind of how I see it... new beginning. I also like how some associated the swallow with strength and swiftness.'

'So, the two birds represent the possibility of new beginnings and strength?'

'Yes. That's... that's exactly what it is. What they are.'

'That's nice... didn't know about the strength bit, but that's very interesting.'

Beth smiled and rested her forehead against the cushioned surface of the chair.

'More than a butterfly?' She asked and she heard it when he snorted.

'Definitely,' he said simply.

Beth was kind of expecting that he'd fall silently now that he had asked the meaning of her tattoo, but much to her surprise, he then proceeded to tell her the story about his first tattoo — the demon and the angel on his shoulders. After that, things just kept flowing between them — stories about how both of them weren't from California and how they ended up there; Beth learned a little about Merle Dixon, who was Daryl's older brother and partner in the shop and who was currently in New York City; Daryl learned more than a little about Beth's siblings, Maggie and Sean; both learned about their interest for the arts (Beth and her affinity for music; Daryl and his talent for drawings)...

'Okay,' Daryl said after almost two hours. 'It's finished. C'mon... take a look in the mirror.'

He waited for her to stand from the chair and walked with her to the full length mirror. He watched Beth as she stood in front of it for a few second before turning around to actually see the tattoo.

The two swallows were one of Daryl's best works so far and he was pretty proud of how they turned out, but he was still a little bit apprehensive about her reaction. And by a little bit he meant a lot, but he was never going to admit that.

Then her mouth dropped open and she quickly covered it with both her hands as she continued to look at the colorful image of two swallows on her left shoulder.

'Oh, my God... This is...'

'Good? Bad?'

Beth was still looking at her image on the mirror; she seemed unable to stop looking so she just raised her eyes for a split second and found Daryl's blue eyes on the mirror, right next to her.

'This is great,' she gushed. 'More than great. It's just... wow. Thank you. Thank you so much!'

Without thinking of asking if it was okay, Beth hugged Daryl. She just did. And it wasn't awkward of anything... at least to Beth.

At first, when he felt her arms closing around him, Daryl froze. He wasn't accustomed to such thing — people invading his personal space and all that contact — but after the initial shock subsided, Daryl allowed his body to relax a little and he gave her a gentle tap on her other shoulder.

'Welcome,' Daryl half said, half grunted under his breath when she finally pulled away. 'Let me put some protection on it then you can be on your way...'

Beth looked at her first tattoo on the mirror once more before she followed Daryl.

As he wrapped her tattoo with some sort of plastic, he gave her some instructions on how to take care of it for the next few days, how to clean it and what ointments to apply, stuff like that.

'Thank you,' Beth told him once more before leaving. She was smiling so widely her cheeks hurt a little. 'Thank you so much.'

'Yeah,' Daryl said almost dismissively while Amy waved and smiled at Beth as she walked out of the shop.

'She's really nice,' Amy commented as soon as the door closed.

'She's all right,' he replied as he turned his back to her and headed to his work place. He needed to clean up for his next client.

'Well, you didn't bite her head off when she hugged you so I'd say she's more than all right...'

Even though Daryl was never the best with people, he was able to detect the suggestiveness in Amy's words. It wasn't very hard because she wasn't even trying to be subtle. And because he really didn't want to go that way, Daryl simply shrugged and did what he was going to do — clean his workplace.

 

+++

 

Almost two weeks later, Daryl was in the middle of a koi fish tattoo when he heard the front door open; he didn't bother checking who had just entered the shop because that was Amy was there for, but when he heard that singsong voice, Daryl raised his head.

There she was. Her blonde hair was tied in a low ponytail and pulled over her left shoulder; she had a pink beanie on that matched the pink tank top she was wearing underneath an almost transparent loose white shirt.

Daryl watched when Amy walked very hurriedly towards Beth and they hugged. He frowned. When did they get so close? And how?

Then her eyes met his and she smiled widely and waved at him. He didn't smile back not did he wave, bit he made this small gesture with his head indicating he had seen her.

He turned his attention back to his tattoo, but now he was also paying a little attention to the two blondes that were chatting.

'I did what you suggested and talked to the owner of that bar,' Beth said.

'And??' Amy asked quite enthusiastically.

'They said yes! We'll perform there Saturday night!'

A lot of giggling and some weird noises followed and while Daryl rolled his eyes inwardly, he was also pretty curious about that whole thing. What bar? And what did she sing? He knew she was studying music, she told him that much when she came to get her tattoo, but Daryl never asked what she liked or even if she was in a band...

'Will you be there?' He heard Beth asking and, glancing at the two young women, he noticed they're holding each other’s hands. When did they become best friends?!

'Of course!' Amy said and he saw that both of them were beaming.

There was more giggling and more weird noises and Daryl just shook his head and returned to his tattoo.

Almost an hour later, after he had finished the koi fish and he was cleaning his workplace, Daryl noticed Amy approaching.

'Hey,' she began. 'So Beth was here...'

'Saw that,' he replied absently and continued to organise his workplace.

'She's going to play at the O'Neal's this Saturday and invited us to go.'

He stopped for a moment and turned to face Amy. 'Us?' He asked dubiously. He was pretty sure he heard her asking if Amy was going... not anyone else.

'Yeah,' she said simply. 'She said since you were busy, she wasn't going to bother you, but she asked me to invite you.'

Daryl grunted something unintelligible under his breath and continued to mind his business.

He had been to the O'Neal's countless times before but he didn't really remember seeing a band he liked.

'I told her we're going.'

'What?!'

'Come on! It'll be fun.'

In all honesty, Daryl wanted to ask why the hell she thought it would be fun, but he did not. He simply grunted something as he safely discarded the used needle.

'Is that a yes?'

'No.'

'Is... that a no, then?'

Throwing his head back, Daryl sighed. Then, much to his great pleasure, someone walked into the shop. Both him and Amy turned their heads. It was just Glenn, one of his co-workers, but then right behind him there were two other people that he didn't recognise instantly. Clients.

'Go do your job,' Daryl said and gave Amy a little push towards the front door.

'Saturday,' she told him loud enough for everyone in that place to hear. 'Nine thirty. We're going!'

'Where are we going?' Glenn asked as he walked towards his work station.

'O'Neal's. A friend will play and we're going.'

'Sounds like fun,' Glenn said and Daryl rolled his eyes.

 

+++

 

It was almost well past ten when Daryl got to that goddamned bar.

Glenn and Amy, as well as T-Dog and Tara, had been calling and texting nonstop ever since nine o'clock, and all that harassing had been so annoying he even considered not going. But he was kind of curious to see what kind of music that girl played so it got the best of him and, at ten twenty, he finally left his flat.

As he made his way towards the Irish bar, Daryl could only hope that her band hadn't stopped playing... but then again, people that played at the O'Neal's usually didn't stop until around midnight so he figured maybe she didn't. And the first thing he noticed when he stepped into the place was that, yes, he had been right.

He didn't even look around to look for his friends; the first thing he saw was the little blonde girl standing on the stage, holding the microphone with both her hands.

Much like the first time she stepped into his tattoo shop, Daryl couldn't help but be surprised. He was fully expecting her to be singing some modern and catchy songs — the type of song Daryl didn't like at all — but there she was, singing old songs, very nice songs at that.

Heading to the bar — but without taking his eyes from the band — Daryl ordered himself a beer and just stood there, listening to Beth singing to the rather big crowd that was clearly paying attention to the band how she wasn't in love...

He had heard that 10cc song before, yes, but Daryl had never really paid much attention or liked how it sounded until he heard her rendition of it.

'They're pretty good, don't you think?'

Turning his head, Daryl found the bartender standing close to him. When the other man looked at him, he figured he was talking to him and not anyone else so he nodded.

'Yeah, they are,' he said simply.

'And that blonde is pretty hot.'

Hearing that, Daryl placed his bottle of beer on the counter and glared at the bartender. But he wasn't looking at him anymore; his eyes were fixed on Beth and, for some reason that was unknown to Daryl, that bothered him, so he just grabbed his beer and walked away from that place. And that man.

He found a decent enough spot by a column and stood there; he leaned onto it and just stayed there, listening to her singing.

She was in the middle of a different song — one that Daryl didn't recognise this time — when her eyes met his. He noticed when she smiled and waved at him gingerly and he simply raised his beer to let her know he had seen the gesture.

When the song finally came to an end, she announced a small break and hopped out of the stage. Daryl followed her with his eyes; a lot of people talked to her, probably congratulating her, and a couple of others hugged her. It was only a moment later that Daryl realised that it was Amy who was hugging Beth, and then a brunette he never seen before, Glenn, T, and Tara... then Beth continued to walk, she talked to more people here and there until she stopped right in front of him.

'Hey! You came!' Her smile was so big it touched her eyes. 'Didn't think you would...'

'Well, Amy said I would so I thought I should at least stop by... That was pretty good,' he said and indicated the stage.

'You really think so?'

'Yeah. I thought you'd play different stuff but that's cool.'

Beth threw her head back and laughed. A small smile pulled at the corners of Daryl's lips without him knowing.

'Well, thanks. I appreciate it... can I?'

Daryl looked at her then at his hand. She was indicating his beer.

'Are you old enough?' He asked. He managed to sound dubious and playful, but in all honesty, he really wanted to know.

Beth rolled her eyes and grabbed the bottle from his hand. Before he could even protest, she brought it to her lips and took a couple of long swigs from it before handing it back to him.

'Don't fret. I'm old enough,' she said when her eyes met his. A small and playful smirk playing with her lips. 'You can ask my sister if you don't believe me. She's there with your friends. I think she likes Glenn...'

Daryl frowned. Not because her sister and Glenn, but because she was saying that to him. Why was she saying that to him? What for?

'Listen, you're staying a little longer, right?' She asked and Daryl shrugged.

'Think so. Why?'

'Just asking... I have to go back there, but I'll see you later,' she said and with that, she turned her back to Daryl, but not without taking his beer again and having another swig. She smiled widely before making her way back towards the stage.

Daryl had no idea what had just happened or what was happening, but he decided to just roll with it.

.

After she returned to her band, Daryl decided he should at least say hello to everyone; not that he really cared about the whole socialising thing but they had been annoying him for so long before he came so he thought he should just let them know he was there.

He also met Maggie, Beth's older sister, and he couldn't help but notice the way she and Glenn interacted. He couldn't tell if she was into Glenn because he knew her for about a couple of minutes, but it was pretty evident to him that Glenn was very much into Maggie.

Daryl did as he told Beth and stayed a little longer. As a matter of fact, he stayed until the very end and not only because he didn't think everyone would nag if he mentioned he wanted to go, but because he was actually enjoying being there. He had his beers and surprisingly good music. And he was even more surprised when the band — he had no idea what was the name of the band — started to play a very well known song by The Runaways.

'Cherry bomb?!' Said Tara when Beth joined them. 'I did _not_ see that coming!'

Taking a bottle of water from Maggie's hands, Beth laughed.

'It was Ty's idea,' she said and indicated a young man standing next to her. Tall, lean, tanned skin and messy brown hair; the moment he heard his name, he threw his arm around her neck. 'He said we should try something like that.'

'And I was right,' he said, grinning at Beth. 'You were awesome.'

Everyone else agreed with the guy named Ty and they were all right. She had been pretty great, and Daryl told her just that before saying he had to go.

'What? Stay a little longer, man,' said T-Dog as he threw his arm around his shoulder, just like Ty had done with Beth.

'Can't,' he said simply as he not so gingerly escaped the man's embrace. 'But it was really good. You guys are... really good.'

Daryl gave the guys of the band a little nod and he tried to offer Beth a small smile before turning his back to them, but he had the impression that it came out more like a grimace than anything else.

Even though the band wasn't playing anymore, the place was still pretty crowded and Daryl had to push his way out of the bar.

As soon as he stepped outside, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It had been a pretty nice evening, he had to admit that to himself; or at least it was until it wasn't anymore. And worst of all, he had no idea what happened to sour the whole thing.

Shaking his head, Daryl pushed that to the back of his mind. Keep thinking about it wouldn't change anything so he might as well just ignore it.

Daryl grabbed a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and lit up one. He was just going to finish that one and then he was going to go home. There were plenty of other things he could do, other places he could go, but Daryl didn't feel like it. Not tonight anyways.

So he just stood there, thinking about nothing in particular and his cigar when he heard a soft voice behind him.

'Hey.'

He didn't have to turn around to see who was talking to him. He knew it was Beth. But even though he knew, he still looked over his shoulder.

'Hey...'

'I'm glad you're still here,' she said, a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

Daryl frowned. 'Are you?'

'Yeah,' Beth nodded and took another step so she was standing right next to him. 'You left in a hurry and I never thanked you...'

He was still frowning. 'What?'

'I just wanted to thank you for coming,' she explained softly

He shrugged and brought the cigarette to his lips.

'It was no trouble...'

'Did you really like it?'

Out of the corner of his eyes, Daryl glanced at the young woman next to him. He could see something in her eyes... she seemed to be really interested in knowing his answer. Almost like his opinion mattered.

'Yeah,' he said with a nod. 'It was pretty good. You guys are good.'

It was like her whole face lit up when he said that and her eyes sparkled like bright stars. Daryl wanted to frown, but he was able to stop himself from doing that.

'Cool. The owner of the place just asked if we could play again next weekend, so... I don't know, maybe you could come again? I mean, you and Amy and Glenn... you know, everyone?'

Daryl nodded. 'I'll see what I can do.'

It wasn't like he had any big plans for next week so he couldn't just say that he'd come, but Daryl didn't like saying things and not living up to them, so he just nodded and said, 'I'll see what I can do.'

'Okay! I should go back there... but thanks again for coming. And thanks for the tattoo!' Turning around, Beth showed him the two swallows. 'I really love them.'

'Maybe next time you'll get that tattoo of your god of war on the pile of skulls,' he said and couldn't help but smile at the memory of her talking so seriously about the tattoo that she didn't want to get.

Beth giggled, and Daryl could help but smile a little more after hearing that.

Then she raised her eyes and there was something else in her blue eyes. Something more daring. Something Daryl didn't really know what was but he found that he liked it.

'Maybe I will,' she said quietly and she smiled at him before turning around and heading back to the bar.

There was something about her smile, though... it didn't convey just amusement. There was something else to that. Something _more_.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Sorry for everything else.


End file.
